JustInCase Radio (Greece) and ProgArchives joined forces to interrogate CUEROCK,whose ‘Tales of Future Passed’ has placed itself among the most interestingreleases of the year. Demetris Katsikis (Founder and Progducer of JustIn CaseRadio) and myself fired questions relentlessly to the German quintet, and, in fairness, they stood up to the task!!!Let’s see whatthey have to say about tales of past, present and future…

Hello Gentlemen! Where, and at what part of yourbusy schedule, does this interview find you exactly? Composing, touring or justmeeting up to discuss future plans?

Indeed we are composing newmaterial for a second CD-release hopefully coming in summer 2013!

Section 1 – tales of past

Yourbiography is already in Progarchives.com but we would like to know a bit moreabout the history of the band. What did CUE stand for in the 70’s and were thereever any releases from this early version of the band?

Achim: We cannot tell you much about the earlyyears, for none of us was part of the band at that time. I saw the band threetimes on stage: first time when I was twelve, next time when I was fifteen,last time when I was seventeen years old. They were the flagship of our localmusic scene, playing Genesis- and Yes-styled music and touring the whole GermanRepublic. I always dreamt of being part of such a great band, though my musicalroots were much heavier. Aged nineteen I came in contact with the bass playerand we had a side-project. When the band needed a new drummer, I suggested to takeM.B. who played with us. M.B. then introduced Axel to CUE, and the former bassplayer became the vocalist (Freddy Mercury – style!!!). And only a few monthslater they asked me to join them as the guitar-player. This was in February1985.

It seems that both Achim and M. B. became members of CUEsoon before you change your name to CUEROCK. Were there significant differencesbetween CUE as it was and the newly-formed band, both in personnel and thesound that you wanted to achieve?

Achim: Don't forget our dear Axel! After CUEhad tried to be successful playing New German Wave mixed with SAGA (they had anacclaimed TV – performance in an early German casting show), the band lostdirection because success was missing. With this new line-up CUE became amixture of TOTO, DEEP PURPLE and 80’s Pop. It was not what I personally reallywanted to do, but we had such a deep friendship...

Ifwe accept 1986 as the ‘official’ starting point of what CUEROCK represents now,this makes it 26 years of history, impressive! Why only three releases in thisperiod? Were there periods of inactivity?

Achim: First I must say that CUEROCK startedwith Andreas Blechmann 1998! His arrival marks a real turning-point!

CUE went through many difficulties. In1988 our singer went to Turkey for occupational reasons. It is very hard toreplace a singer whose vocal range spans almost 4 octaves. In 1992 we gotcontact to a singer who was pretty good, and he propelled us to produce a CD (‘I’).But the chemistry wasn't right, so we broke up with him. And in 1994 ourkeyboardist had to leave for health reasons. He was almost a concert pianist,and the three of us remaining were looking for new members for years. But wedidn't find the quality we needed. Until Andreas Blechmann came!

Thereis little information about your ‘I’ (1991) and ‘Physically’ (2004) albums.Could you give us a bit of insight as to who was involved in these albums andif/how the sound is different to 2012’s CUEROCK?

Andreas: ‘I’ is CUE,sounding more Pop-oriented. ‘Physically’ is pure CUEROCK.

Achim: Looking back on‘I’ I would say that it is a kind of swan song for CUE. But we did an EP1998/99 (‘The Inner Eye of CUE’) - we called it a ‘tryout’ - with 4instrumentals including early versions of ‘For Sabine’, ‘Journey to the Centre’and ‘A Farewell to the Falcon’.

Andreas: The Falcon...

Achim: Yes, your AtariFalcon. We did the recording with an 8-track Atari Falcon. But a new PC andsound card were already ordered, and so we named one of the instrumentals ‘AFarewell to the Falcon’.

Andreas: We achievedunexpected success with this EP. We sent it to German magazines like ‘Gitarre&Bass’and ‘RockHard’ and received great reviews. We even got nominated for the Germanrock award 1999. But we had no chance to get it with our non-commercialproject...

Achim: And this wasthe birth of CUEROCK. It was an important impulse. We began to develop ourstyle. Andreas wanted us to become heavier with fat guitars left and right. Onthe other hand we wanted to put in classical structures such as variation,polyphony... but unfortunately ‘Physically’ remained unfinished due to Axel'sdeath in 2004 – this was a shock...

Andreas: With the re-launchof CUEROCK 2009 we felt that we need vocals as a carrier for our music.

Achim: And Larry-Leewas the first singer after decades who was able to sing what we had in mind...Now we are able to add a touch of ‘sing-along’ to our music, so that listenerscan join in... You called it ‘catchy’ in your review – a big thank you forthat! But we still place on variation and polyphony as important musicalstructures.

Ifsomeone wants to explore your past, are these albums still available?

Achim: They were just demos, neverreleased officially. We still have about 100 items of‘I’ at home, but the sound quality is bad. Thousands of German Marks for a poorproduction...

Section 2 – tales of present

Let’s get closer to what CUEROCK represents now. Theaddition of Larry Lee in 2010 seems to have added that extra bit of power,enthusiasm and motivation to get things going again. Is this the case?

Larry-Lee: I´dsay on my entering the Band CUEROCK, thatthe personal CUEROCK band members views, if they were to voice their opinions,then they would probably answer: yes, Larry-Lee´s joining the band brought hugemotivation amongst its founder members. His vocal versatility/musical vocalability/power/emotion and expressions, for all his ray of sunshine whensinging, and bringing Achim’s music ideas in composing into reality, then yes.It has brought life into its music by putting the hard composed work intoreality. CUEROCK where not seeking the 1980´s styling from rock music fromvocalists, in back then meant high pitch, high octave screams. It's also notreally fitting for CUEROCK material. Our bands intentions are more for themelodic rock groove with a large element of theatrical feeling within its musiccompositions. In this way the guys probably recognised me as a huge asset totheir music, being able to bring into realisation their - also future coming -material.

Achim: Yes, he is areal sunshine... ;-)

Andreas: But don't offerhim expensive wines...

How did you find Larry (or how did he find you!)?

Larry-Lee: It wassimply by chance. I simply landed on their doorstep, having heard they needed avocalist, but was somewhat held back. However, I'd worked all my life in themusic branch and have been a pure full blooded musician, almost as long turningpro in 1977, I had sung virtually every styling of the modern day music scenes,be it rock/swing/Tamla-Motown, or many of the dozen other styles, due to havingbeen in many also cover bands, as well as bringing over years of originalmaterial... I'd mastered almost all, but I thought the metric structure of CUEROCK'smusic would be well above my capabilities. However, on visiting the band I wasin as a full time member without even having taken an AUDITION! I personallygave my entry into the band via the words ‘I’m coming to you as an apprentice’,as they had not found any other vocalist with the ability to put theircompositions into reality. But felt with patience that I could make them proudof me. I've never looked back since that day, and feel from that day on as ifI've been with them from foundation day.--------------- They are simply greatguys to work with.

Achim: I guess Larryread an online ad or I read his one – I don't know. The first time only Larryand I had a meeting in our little studio. I had already heard some of hisformer songs online and was sure that his voice had the needed range! And whenhe told me he'd come as an apprentice I had the feeling that he is the rightmember for us! We had tried out some very young singers before, talented andwell-sounding, but with weakly-skilled singing-technique. Whenever theycouldn't hit a high note they wanted us to pitch down the song instead oftraining their voice... Larry – despite of his long lasting career – said: I amwilling to learn. No egomania, but professional attitude!

And what about the writing process: who is/are the maincomposer(s) or are all members contributing equally?

Larry-Lee:Within my past in the music branch, bands have mostly always been mine,but for the very first time in years this was not to be. And also for the very firsttime in my life I've decided to take a complete backseat in my music life, andI don’t regret a thing! I've also never, ever been in any type of band or musicproject where I have not had disagreements/arguments. However, in this bandI've not witnessed one day of such! Approximately 28 months since my entry,argument free, just good warm hearted togetherness.

The song-writing process musically is done mostly between Achim+Andreas(Andy); Lyrically it's our Achim at work, with his - in my mind - genius works.I’m a U.K. Subject, and English is my native tongue, and he writes it as aGerman better than I'll ever be able to do (I take my hat off to You, Achim). Better said: musically+lyrically one could say 89%of the works come from his geniality+wondering adventures mind,----- it's whatmakes CUEROCK what it is.

Achim: (Blush...) I have to point out that one of the biggest inspirations for meis the aggregation of musical skills in this band! I have such a huge respectfor all my band mates. One of the biggest impulses is to let all of them glare– I love vocals, bass, drums and keys, and – of course – electric guitars.Pathetically spoken: Every note is filled with love for these musicians – aliveor passed away!

Andy and I havemeetings with intense working on structures, arranging and/or voicing, and hegives very important inputs that help me develop the ‘songs’. But it is theagreement of ALL members that make the song finished!

Are lyrics a big part of your writing process now? Whowrites the lyrics and what are the themes you deal with?

Larry-Lee:I occasionallycontribute just a little to Achim´s ideas, but tend to keep my nose out of thisregion of work. I used my full musical know-hows in the first period of mysuccessful ventures in the music branch and made my own success during theperiods 1977 to 1983, so I do know my real capabilities. But it was a differentmusic scene for me back then. If I was asked directly now how to valuateAchim's / CUEROCK's music and lyrics, well, it's an easy answer for me:composition and content extremely meaningful and full of inner feelings. It'smusic content one could class as a typical bombastic Hollywood Motion Picturemusic, which can be seen by us as a huge compliment.

Achim: The lyrics... They are mostly the attempt todescribe the visions I have in mind. I am a very visual thinking person; themusic I have in mind yields pictures and film-sequences that I try to explain.And I always look for strong words and precise terms. Larry is an importanthelp, for he's a native speaker. Let me try to illustrate it with an example:

Kaleidoscope pt.I: ‘...but in the nighther memories pull her retrograde through time’; Larry: ‘No common Britishperson will understand this’, but we discussed what I had in mind: A term thatgives a precise description of the wrong direction of thinking and living.After a while he said: Yes – let's do it this way...

I am a teacher for music and biology; asa scientist, I always take in the observer's view; as a music teacher, I alwaystry to expose the beauty of what I see.

Could you tell us a few words about the musiccomposition process? How do you write music? Does music come first, do lyricscome first, or, is it a simultaneous flowing process?

Achim: The first ideas are often simultaneous; there is ariff or a chorus in my mind – words and music. When I begin to work it out Ifocus on music – and later I try to fill my visions with words. But thephonetic structure of the lyrics (the ‘sounding’ part) is quite clear rightfrom the beginning.

Howwould you characterise the CUEROCK sound? You are listed under progressivemetal in ProgArchives, but there is more to it…

Larry-Lee:Well, as CUEROCK's frontman I'd have to give the substantial answer, if asked in private the answerwould be: an intellectual/technical/melodic/poetical and meaningful form ofPower Rock/Metal with strong grooves, simply modern, tight and refreshing.

Achim: Having dealtwith TOTO in the 80’s has formed us in the way we groove, I guess. EspeciallyM.B. is more a gentleman-drummer than a rock-animal, playing more restrained,but always exactly figuring out the musical structures of our songs. It isgreat to see how clearly everything sounds when he's playing! And Andreas oftenadds a touch of Jazz/Fusion-feeling. Some Vai and Lukather aspects mayappear... But I also try to add – maybe not quite obvious – I touch of ‘BonJovi’ to our music (oh – my – god...).

Followingfrom the above, does the term progressive rock mean something special to you oris it just another means of categorising the music? What are your predictionsabout the future of prog rock?

Andreas: Indeed wecalled our music ‘progressive rock’ to give people a rough idea of what theycould expect. We hate thinking in categories, but people need this kind of aidto orientation. All WE want to put in our music is polyphonic structures,variation, development...

Achim: You will neverhear a verse simply repeated with new words. I hate simple encores apart fromchoruses. Life is not a flat-line – you've got ups and downs, changes, youshould develop. If you try to create music that's vivid you have to transferthese aspects to it! It's like one of my favorite TNG-episodes ‘Déja Vu’: eachencore is a little bit changed – and these variations carry the story up to theend.

But categorizing is a verydangerous thing. Some people think we're not proggy enough, others are deterredby suggesting we are playing boringly endless songs...

Future of prog rock? Noidea. I don't count on categories; I just look for individual artworks. Thereare so many impressive songs in this genre today...

What’s your personal philosophy or/and mottos of yourlife?

Larry-Lee:Mine has always been from day one of musicpath as follows: Sex, no drugs but Rock´n´Roll...

Achim: Never stoplearning!

Klaus: Always try togive your best!

M.B.: Let's play,until the geriatric nurses get us from the stage!

Whatwould you advice someone who is currently aspiring to sink her/his band in theprog world?

Andreas:My personalopinion: There are too many bands outside that rely on solemn and dramaticexaggeration. A sip of ‘big ease’ and musical flow is needed more than anotherdeeply grieving world-ache-epos...

Achim: On the otherhand WE love this kind of neo-romanticism, don't we? I guess the most importanttip is that they should try to tell their own musical stories. But I guess thatyoung musicians who decide to dip in progressive have the right skills andtalents to do it well! Imagine all those young talents of jazz you showed me, Andy!

NEWALBUM! – 2012 marks the world-wide release of ‘Tales of Future Passed’. Pleasetell us about the recording process and how you ended up collaborating with7Hard.

Achim: Well, after getting acomplete line-up we started to put together new vocal material forlive-eventers and so on. Larry confirmed us to put in some of our physically –instrumentals, for they were – to his opinion – too precious to be buried inthe past. So we finished with a small edition mostly for promotional use. Afterhaving tuned our web presence (by the way: many, many thanks to our supportersMarco Witte, Ingo Holzhauer for designing & supervising it, Ingo also forhis live-mixing, Julia Jork for dealing the lighting and Jens Herken forsound-supporting our rehearsals) Larry came in contact to Hans Derer (Owner of7Hard). Hans wanted to re-release our CD under his label. But we decided totake in a new song (‘Days Of Future Passed), for it was always in my mind that ‘Kaleidoscope’had to get this second part (the musical storyline was not completed; there wasstill more to this main theme!). But we had a strict deadline for the CD. I puttogether the song at record speed (The best way to turn your hair totallywhite...).

One word that could describe your latest album is ‘dynamic’?What are your influences as musicians (e.g. other musicians, bands, styles) andhow do these blend together to the final result?

Achim: At present itis firstly my job to compose or at least work out the ideas. I do this bymidi-programming bass, drums and keys (whenever Andy is not available). I lovethe elegant and musical drumming of M.B. and I love the virtuosity of Klaus andAndy. So I always imagine how they would like to play it. Maybe this is thereason why it appears dynamic: I always try to work the songs out in a way thatbrings out every facet of their musical sense.

Threetracks from ‘Physically’ appear to be in the new album as well. Are the newversions significantly different and/or have they been re-recorded? Is this thelink between the old and the new material?

Andreas: We only didsome re-recordings with Klaus. But we didn't delete all of Axel's parts! Klausreally admires Axel's work, and so it was to honor him by putting his work onthis CD. The strangest thing is about ‘For Sabine’: you can hear Axel playingthe whole first movement. The bass-heartbeats in the break leading to thesecond movement weren't played by him any more – he died shortly before thisrecording-session...

Achim: It wasn't easyto integrate the sounding of the new takes in the original ones, but I guessyou will hardly hear it now... So you can say ‘Tales of Future Passed’ is thelink between CUEROCK 2004 and our future. It is a turning-point, a thank you toour dear friend Axel. I personally found peace with his death by doing this CD.

Wepresume that the story of ‘Dreamon in Neverland’ is a special one. Are you happy to give the details of thistrack?

Achim: It was early in2005 when I told Andy that I had an idea for a three-parted-musical suite forour Axel. Dream On... was planned to be part two. I had this idea of abass-riff, the 6/8 – groove was one of Axel's favorites, and I wanted to holdon to what this really great little man was for us. So I outlined the firstmovement and a first verse. We did a draft recording to fix the idea. We alwaysdreamt of completing this song for him. We played it to Klaus and Larry andthey were eager to have this song completed, too. So I finished it. It may beunbelievable, but Klaus and Larry, the two who never knew Axel, became hisfriend by carrying out this song! Friendship beyond death...

But there a still two partsmissing... we plan to do 3 CDs for 7Hard...

Do you have any sideprojects/musical collaborations beyond CUEROCK?

Achim: M.B. and Klausplay with other local bands. M.B. supports friends of him who need a skilleddrummer; Klaus is really quite successful with a top class cover-band. Larrytries to put together a show band. But CUEROCK is their top priority, ofcourse.

Andy organizes and conductsConcertos such as Requiem by Mozart, St. James-Passion by Bach... it is part ofhis profession, but these concerts go far beyond what he has to do for his job!It is pure passion for church music.

Oh, I am the poor guy whohas no time for side-projects. Composing and producing CUEROCK takes most of mytime beside my job and my family (without their patience and understanding itwouldn't be possible)!

Howare the live experiences of CUEROCK? What are the reactions of the people whocome to your live shows?

Larry-Lee: We only had afew smaller venues till now because we focused on recording. But one revieweron Amazon.de pointed out the friendly manner of the band. We are who we are, inreal life the same as on stage. We like to talk with the audience after theshow...

What is most important forme is that we seem to reach younger people as well as people in our age. EvenMetal-headbangers enjoyed our music. But they shouldn't get too drunken – thenour music might cause a brain-overkill...

Section 3 – tales of future

Whatare the immediate future plans/goals for CUEROCK?

Achim: I am workingout new songs for expanding our live-performance; Songs that will fill oursecond CD hopefully coming in 2013! And Larry will manage live-contacts; wewant to play as much as possible. But our kind of music is not Germanmainstream at the moment, so it's not easy to get attractive live-jobs. Imaginewe are newcomers (smile...)

Isthere any possibility to see CUEROCK playing live in Greece (home of JustIn CaseProg Radio) or UK? Friends of Larry must be waiting for his return! What arethe challenges in playing lives shows abroad?

Larry-Lee: Yes and no... better saidif you have better contact than us, with Greek festival/concert organizersliking our style of music then maybe. However our Greek contact possibilitiesare sadly low. But naturally it would be great to appear somewhere within yourcountry, as also others. However good our music, it’s still an up-hill climbeven for us to be heard live. This music style is limited for new on the sceneprogressive bands. Now, being Dream Theater/Porcupine Tree/Spock's Beard/SteveVai/Toto/Haggard/Tankard and a small number of others, for such establishednames... we've been in the business just as long, but without such a name muchpatience is needed! But we will get there, maybe to Greece also, with help fromyour side of the water.

Concerning my friends inthe UK: Yes there still are a few out there (most probably dead by now – haha...). And yes, I've had many personal compliments from many of my past band/sfollowing, who have discovered our CUEROCK CD, recognized my voice and madecontact. It is firstly a great inner feeling, and it would be a moral boost forany musician. Yes, GLASTONBURY 2013: here we come...

Achim: Our chances playing abroadare limited by the fact, that we all have our main professions. So it is aquestion of money, but to get enough money depends on popularity, which we tryto increase.

Amessage from your part for the listeners of JustIn Case Prog Radio, Greece is…

Achim: ...the cradle of our European culture; many thanks for that! And forGyros, Samos and Metaxa... I am almost addicted...

Andreas: Nothing more to say...

Amessage from your part for the collaborators and members of ProgArchives is…

Achim: FirstI must point put that we are very, very proud of having become part of yourcollection and receiving this fine review of our album! It really is an honor!

Larry-Lee: I say the same to all YOUprog-collaborators out there! But it would simply be good for us as a band ifmore of you, who have listened to our CD, would send in some of your up-frontopen personal true opinions as to CUEROCK’s music pro or con on our guest-bookon www.CUEROCK.com. It is critique thathelps a band most!

Anythingthat you might want to add?

Larry-Lee:For thoseevermore visitors browsing into CUEROCK information and news: please, justremember that I, Larry-Lee, as a member of the Band state as follows:

Pleasedo not await from me any overall form of seriousness. Most bands are maybeserious, and the original CUEROCK guys also, but I myself am a mad characterwho loves and does his job in the band. However it's not possible for me tostay serious long! As a person I'm just full of fun and cannot survive withoutdoing something silly and stupid. It's my Lancashire UK humor, ok?

Achim: So you think thatall of us other guys completely lack any sense of humor? I guess I will doremixes of our songs chosing the … the ‘best’ takes of Larry-Lee... grin...

Klaus:There are some interestinglive-takes from our rehearsals... grin...